Homework – Coaching Session #1

By andrea1 On February 21, 2013 · Add Comment

December 7th

My followup email was there, as expected, when I woke up in the morning. Aside from some personal thoughts from Stacy, she had also sent me some tips to breaking down my barriers and for being aware of my nagging negative thoughts.

And, my homework answers:

Accomplishments Exercise:

USMC – bootcamp through discharge.
2 years ago I managed consistent 3 months working out daily and losing weight without falter, which I’d avoided doing (alone) for 15 years and was convinced I couldn’t shouldn’t have to do, because in the past when I’d done so successfully it was always with ~~someone~~ a significant other, or the support of a team like the Corps. What made me start was getting angry enough that I had nobody to exercise with that I forced myself through the first week. In the end a barrier fell when my mind no longer ruminated over the wall in front of me because it was gone.
Doctorate – even if I don’t want it anymore because it was the wrong path for me.
Reading.. it’s a silly thing but I meet so many people who cannot spell to save their lives and “hate to read” and they irritate me. I’m so thankful that a childhood spent reading CONSTANTLY helped me learn more about the world and be more generally knowledgeable. It sounds silly, but, I’m glad I’m a heavy reader.
I’ve survived my upbringing, the Marines, Chiro college and more…and I’m still trying. Gotta be worth something.

Likes and Dislikes Narrative:

This one was very long, and included details I don’t really want on a blog attached to my LinkedIn account (hahaha), so I’ll heavily shorten it:

Hardware Store, Baker’s Shoes, Mrs. Fields Cookies – teenager

Likes: New experiences and knowledge. Dressing up for work made me feel grown up. Free leftover brownies. Hardware/home improvement is easy.
Dislikes: Not free form, free to wander.

United States Marine Corps – Administrative Chief – 19-23 yoa

Likes: Felt like a bad ass. Very fit. Easy lifestyle in general. Housing, healthcare, structure, safety. Cuban lover.
Dislikes: Life is not a competition. Young inexperienced officers tossing their weight around. Rigidity. Complete lack of innovation. And because in order to move up the line there’s a constant feel of having to measure up and compete with others for your rank. I don’t like competing… to be seen as “good enough” or compared to others, and will avoid those situations. I prefer and contribute strongly in cooperative work towards a common goal, which the Corps does well…then comes promotion time. (Psych Story Time: I’m the 5th child of 6 but unlike an article I read recently, it didn’t make me into someone who competes. I’m myself, independently valuable, unique, and talented. I compete only with myself. Compare me to anybody negatively, I become demoralized and decrease my effort.)

Advanced Chiropractic & Acupuncture – Reception and Billing – 25 yoa

Likes: Data entry for medical billing because it was simple, fast, consistent, linear, organized and I could do it in my sleep.
Dislikes: Grumpy micromanaging boss, arbitrary insurance rules/systems must be memorized, as they make no sense otherwise, just memorized arbitrary factoids.

Counselor– Residential Treatment Center for Adolescents – 25 yoa

Likes: Mountain ranch atmosphere with activities that should be in every school – farming, horseback riding etc. The girls in my dorm contacted me after they graduated, as a friend they trusted – good enough recommendation I’d say.
Dislikes: Toxic coworker who felt I was competition for male attention (yeah, because that’s why we were there). Also I wasn’t emotionally strong enough to deal with the issues these girls had for long, left after 2 months.

Personal Assistant

Likes: Autonomy. I had expertise and experience in something they either didn’t or weren’t interested in, so my work was my baby. Historic preservation information was interesting to read. Did work, paid immediately, no hassle.
Dislikes: None really, except for dust in the warehouse for one job.

Office Manager – 1997 – Law Office

Likes: New experience, reasonable autonomy, as I was the only admin staff. Partied with staff (until I regretted that).
Dislikes: Dated one of the associate lawyers who turned out to be a pig. Literally. He’s in prison for pedophilia now. I was uncomfortable with how the boss spoke to his lovely wife.

Random chain of Rehab/Ortho/Chiro clinics in Dallas.

Likes: Autonomy. Hired immediately and paid well, based on my resume.
Dislikes: It was an unethical, bordering on criminal, clinic system with gross overbilling and untrained “clinical” staff. The man who hired me was openly and unapologetically criminal in his outlook towards cheating the system for money. I wrote a letter outlining their practices to the state boards, and quit.

Front Desk, Administrative & Billing Clerk – 1997 – 1998 – TopherNet Internet Services | Dallas, TX

Likes: Everything. Autonomy. The people were lovely and kind and worked together to build that small business cooperatively as a family, with healthy psychological behavior.
Dislikes: Tiny bit boring, the work.

Teambuilding Facilitator – Corporate & Youth Teambuilding – 1998 – 2002 – TX

Likes: Fun. Active. Morally upright. Lovely people. Great facility. Nice bosses. Still a successful business, because it’s an unique and amazing business.
Dislikes: I did this full time while in college and grew increasingly exhausted and physically burnt out, so it got harder and less fun. Also… the customer is NOT always right, no matter how badly you want to maintain a good reputation.

Hyperbaric Chamber – 2002 – Trained short-term clinical inside chamber in Oahu hosp.

Likes: New information! Interesting experience, and thorough training.
Dislikes: Tedious in practice, and too much memorization for my abilities.

Educator – Anatomy & Physiology – 2003 Community College | NM

Likes: Refresher for me. Autonomy. Public speaking experience. New experience. Sense of accomplishment in the end.
Dislike: I was worried the entire time somebody would think I was stupid. I hadn’t learned yet how to make lab sections effective. I also really didn’t have the extra time to be doing the job, but wanted to try anyway.

Doctor of Chiropractic, Manager then Owner – 2003 – 2008 – Advanced Chiropractic & Acupuncture NM

Likes: Autonomy. Creative expression regarding how to run the practice, do marketing, treat patients, work with other professionals. The staff, I loved them. Both of our locations were gorgeous and felt like home. I was still interested in treating patients and we did well clinically. Busy.
Dislikes: Not getting paid. MEDICARE. My financial stupidity. Networking. Having anything I had to do, outside of Chiropractic, that I wasn’t interested in, in order to succeed (like taxes, accounting, networking…). aka, I bombed in business. Hard.

Doctor of Chiropractic – Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Department, Spine Section – 2008 – present – Specialist Hospital | Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Likes: No taxes, so I can pay back taxes more easily. No rent, no transport costs. Covered healthcare (although the things I want, like acupuncture, laser dermatology, massage, dental are available but not covered). Set pay scale with increases, rather than the uncertainty of private practice.
Dislikes: Sorry, I plead the 5th until I am no longer here.

Peak Experiences:

From: Ignacio, Andrea
Sent: Sunday, December 09, 2012 11:59 AM
To: ‘Stacy‘
Subject: Flow States

Stacy,

I know this is really late but I had a blog post for Human Rights Day that had to be done this morning so I did that first.

I’m stuck on peak experiences. I can become reasonably absorbed in making power point presentations (……..)

I’ve become a bit engrossed in a few crafts in recent years. I attached pics of what my private space looks like… here

My difficulty with crafts wasn’t interest, it was getting impatient and bored (same when I cook) about 2/3 of the way through and then rushing to finish because I wanted to move on to something else.

Other than these, the only things that really absorb me calmly and contentedly are reading and daydreaming. There’s nothing about my career that interests me that much, aside from thinking about better teaching methods and helping kids, pre-college age, with discovering their own gifts/talents so they can choose the career that will make them happy (duh).

Not sure if that’s what you’re looking for? I honestly can’t tell you what (that I’ve done) makes me happy.

Cheers,